The present invention expands upon the concept of the prepackaged mounting assembly that is disclosed in and shares inventorship with U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,509,524, 6,632,998, 6,646,201, and 6,677,523 and U.S. application Ser. No. 10/790,973. The prepackaged mounting assemblies disclosed in these patents provide all the hardware needed for attaching a mounting assembly to an overhead beam, including all required fasteners to complete the installation, without the need for an outer wrap or separate packaging to hold the separate components.
In particular, U.S. Pat. No. 6,646,201 provided an L-shaped mounting assembly that provided a large integral internal wiring cavity and also disclosed the use of an initial fastener for use in initially securing the mounting assembly to an overhead beam. By securing with the initial fastener, the installer's hands are advantageously freed to complete the remaining installation steps. Load bearing fasteners, which were held in temporary storage receptacles for shipment and storage, were then removed and driven into permanent receptacles and into the supporting beam to securely attach the L-shaped assembly thereto.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,646,201 included an alternate embodiment of the L-shaped mounting assembly, which was preferred when there was no provision in the mounting assembly for apertures for receipt of the load bearing fasteners or when the manufacturer's bracket included apertures extending beyond the side walls of the mounting assembly. This mounting assembly is installed initially with an initial mounting screw. The load bearing fasteners are then removed from their temporary storage receptacles and installed through the manufacturer's bracket and directly into the overhead beam to secure the assembly thereto. The load bearing fasteners are thereby installed outboard of the side walls of the lower junction box of the L-shaped mounting assembly and extend directly into the overhead beam. By moving the installation point of the load bearing fasteners outboard the side walls of the lower junction box, the alternate embodiment of the L-shaped mounting assembly could be used with virtually any oversized bracket provided separately by manufacturer's, including those for light fixtures, ceiling fans, or similar overhead electrical devices.
Although the alternate embodiment disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,646,201 provided enabled the L-shaped mounting assembly to accommodate an oversize manufacturer's bracket, it was difficult to align the bracket with the mounting assembly and the beam to which it was attached.
To solve the problem of aligning the manufacturer's bracket with the mounting assembly, U.S. application Ser. No. 10/790,973 disclosed an L-shaped mounting assembly that provided an arrangement for aligning a manufacturer's bracket with the mounting assembly for proper installation of load bearing fasteners into the supporting beam. The aligning arrangement included posts extending downwards from a flange on the lower end of the mounting assembly. The manufacturer's bracket, which typically includes longitudinal slots, was simply placed against the flange with the posts extending through the slots.
Although the mounting assembly of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/790,973 provided a means of aligning the bracket with the mounting assembly and the beam, as a result of its oversized junction box, it was especially useful for mounting an electrical device to an unfinished ceiling, in which the beams are bare and exposed or in which the sheet rock has not yet been installed. If the mounting assembly of Ser. No. 10/790,973 were used in a retrofit situation, in which the sheet rock were already installed, it was not easy to form a hole for accepting the mounting assembly without disturbing the surrounding ceiling surface and thereby requiring the installer to repair the surrounding ceiling area.
What is needed therefore is an L-shaped mounting assembly that can be used in a retrofit situation or a situation in which the ceiling has already been finished. The mounting assembly should be capable of being easily installed in a finished ceiling, with minimal disturbance to the surrounding ceiling surface. An adequately sized cavity should be provided for holding wiring connections. The mounting assembly should furthermore have the advantage of providing a mounting structure that is capable of being stored, shipped, and sold as a prepackaged unit with all required fasteners for installation self-contained within the unit. Fasteners should be held securely enough to permit storage, shipping, display and handling without the need for an outer wrap or separate packaging to retain the fasteners with the assembly.